This invention relates to the compaction of tires, and more particularly concerns apparatus for the stacking, compaction and baling of used rubber tires.
Used rubber tires constitute a serious environmental disposal problem. Factories now exist which can dispose of the tires in a manner which derives some value from the tires while not causing adverse ecological consequences. One such manner of disposal involves combustion of the tires under carefully controlled conditions to produce heat which in turn generates electricity.
Because of their relatively large volume and low economic value, careful consideration must be given to the economics of accumulating used tires and transporting them to the processing factory. Whether such transportation is by way of truck or railway car, it is important that the cargo-carrying space be filled as completely as possible.
Methods have earlier been disclosed for compacting rubber tires in stacks, sidewall to sidewall, for more efficient storage and transport. Some of said methods are those employed by tire manufacturers wherein tires of the same size are packaged for more efficient shipment to sales outlets. Said earlier methods of compaction generally employ a hydraulically operated ram terminating in a head plate which presses downwardly upon a stack of tires centered between four vertical posts which guide the head plate. At the lowermost position of the head plate, the tires are bound or baled so that, when the head plate is lifted, the tires can be removed as a compacted and unified stack or bale having considerably less volume than the uncompacted stack.
In the case of randomly accumulated used tires, the tires are of various diameters, widths and thread thickness. The mere stacking of such tires is in itself difficult. When compressive force is applied downwardly onto a stack of randomly sized used tires, uneven resistance to the compressive force, causes tires to move laterally to the direction of compressive force, namely away from stacked alignment. Although the use of four vertical guide posts, as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,006,678, prevents tilting of the head plate due to uneven compressive resistance of the stack, they impede the stacking of the tires and removal of the compacted bales.
A limitation imposed upon earlier compacting devices is the inability to accumulate tires in the bale as a consequence of repeated compression strokes. If, for example a pressing apparatus has a ten foot height capacity and achieves a 5 to 1 compression ratio, a bale of about two foot height is produced, and must be removed prior to subsequent operation of the apparatus. It would be desirable to be able to make large size bales without having to start from a high stack of tires.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide apparatus for the compacting and baling of used tires.
It is further object of this invention to provide apparatus as in the foregoing object adapted to cope with the uneven sizes and compressive characteristics of randomly selected used tires.
It is another object of the present invention to provide apparatus of the aforesaid nature which can be easily and quickly operated.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide apparatus of the aforesaid nature capable of accumulating tires in repetitive compacting steps to produce bales of varied height.
It is still a further object of this invention to provide apparatus of the aforesaid nature of simple, durable construction amenable to low cost manufacture.
These objects and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description.